OD and Tow/haul

[thracing]

you did not spend 4,500 for nothing . tow in od ,when you come too a grade ,or get into heavy hill,s turn off your od you will be fine. just keep your eye on your get,s ,don,t lug your motor down you will be ok.drop a gear =shut off the od

[hex0rz]

Well, seems like from the sounds of the way pepsi makes it sound, I'm just once again a ticking time bomb waiting to happen. Even if I do not pull a load. But just from the sheer weight and torque that can be applied to the flex-plate from the TC.I'm gonna call my transmission guy when he opens and run it by him and see what he has to say on the matter. Other then that, besides my potential flex-plate issue, just make sure to kick off the OD when I'm not on flat ground.I'm gonna look into an auxillary transmission cooler as well. I thought these trucks had a core in the front, but it looks like the fluid is cooled by a heat exchange with the coolant?

[pepsi71ocean]

Okay, I went with this guy cause he has owned his own transmission rebuild shop for about 30 some odd years. He deals with alot of guys who pull some weight. He never mentioned anything to me about needing a billet flexplate. I would assume he would say it is something I should get done if it needed it? I just spent almost $4,500 on this rebuild!

Moparman, I don't get what you mean by grabbing a gear lower in an auto? Like manually moving the gear selector down to 2nd or 1st?

Pespi, so you are saying that I should only have the OD button ON when I'm only towing lightly?

I'm not sure what to do now... I feel like I just bought a $4500 transmission rebuild that I can't even use for work...

I spent not much more and got a fully built DTT trans:cookoo: (with billet input and flexplate.

There is alot of difference between the two, and im not sure what your guy would say, but both DTT and Goerend recommended billet flexplates to me mainly because they stock ones can barely hold the stock power level, let alone the harsh shifting of trans.

(If your adding a pac brake down the road i would also suggest a flexplate because your fighting gravity with that thing.

As for towing/downshifting this is what i follow. and DTT told me that with my trans i should be fine to haul what i need in 4th. Basically i have always hauled in O/D to get what i need where i need it, IF your truck cannot make its mind up as to what gear to select (either 4th or 3rd), or keeps shifting then slow down and go to 3rd gear. This is what i have always done, its better to drop into 3rd which is 1:1) and then let the truck work from there, then have it struggle to hold.

Basically you start by hitting the O/D off button, then that kicks it into 3rd gear, once you climb down to about 1,300rpms(+/- 40mph) you can then downshift to the "2", or to the "1" selector as i have found that my truck will not downshift into first until the PCM reads 25mph.

--- Update to the previous post...

Well, seems like from the sounds of the way pepsi makes it sound, I'm just once again a ticking time bomb waiting to happen. Even if I do not pull a load. But just from the sheer weight and torque that can be applied to the flex-plate from the TC.

I'm gonna call my transmission guy when he opens and run it by him and see what he has to say on the matter. Other then that, besides my potential flex-plate issue, just make sure to kick off the OD when I'm not on flat ground.

I'm gonna look into an auxillary transmission cooler as well. I thought these trucks had a core in the front, but it looks like the fluid is cooled by a heat exchange with the coolant?

the 2500's have a built in trans cooler with the radiator (I believe, says haynes manual i have)

Im not saying your trans is worth less, for 4,500 you better have one that can pull a mountain, i just feel that you should have a flexplate at the least, because everyone i have talked to seems to be in agreement about running flexplates and triple disk TC's.

You can stay in OD when not in flat ground, just understand that without the added power your engine will be bogged down more easily, and i should also add put more load on the engine. as long as your not constantly shifting from 3-4-3-4-3-4 your good. If so then kick it out of OD and slow down and then kepe going.

[hex0rz]

I was torn between too many transmissions online. If I was able to make a decision I would have had to DIY it. Which is not a big problem for me. But then there is always the possibility of the transmission being bad on arrival and them placing blame on me. I would have had also had to send mine in for the core.Chances are, I would of had to pay more for the core when I sent it in as I had some hard part damage. Choosing someone I can go to in person and speak with them 1-on-1 was better IMO. I paid someone to deal with the headache I would of had. As I know nothing to little about rebuild transmissions. Not only did they redo the transmission, but they check the cooler lines, and the electronics involved with the operation of the transmission. If had gotten an input or flexplate, it would have been nearly $5k for the job, and I was already breaking the bank with $4.5k.I called my transmission guy today, and he told me that he has only replaced 10 flexplates in the last 5 years. But thats what only comes through his door. He said most of the time they are diesels. The reasoning behind broken flywheels for him is not what you describe. Mainly due to a bad starter or cracks developed from vibrations. Nothing from the transmission is going to cause the flywheel to go out because it is not the cause for broken flywheels. According to him...He quoted me about $400-500 to do a flexplate job with a stock flexplate. So add that to however much it would cost me for a billet.In reality, I have to take what I read online with a grain of salt. As most of it can be hearsay. I also have to take the transmission guys info for what its worth as well. I will continue on a stock flywheel until it goes out, if it does go out. Then I will fork the money over for a billet when the time comes. Although, I will heed all advice on how to be easy on the transmission when hauling/towing.

[mehbohdi]

I would like to ask? Has anybody ever trashed a flex plate due to to much load. I mean real seen it not just heard of it. Maybe with a over abundance of power adders and foolish driving. I have personally done some stupid things with my trucks and drag racing for years and never broke a flex plate. Unless your running more than 500 hp, just drive it, enjoy it. The engineers that designed these trucks did take into consideration our ability to do dumb things with them. There is always room for improvement, some things are just overkill. Scare tactics sell parts. Just my 2 cents MEH

[pepsi71ocean]

I was torn between too many transmissions online. If I was able to make a decision I would have had to DIY it. Which is not a big problem for me. But then there is always the possibility of the transmission being bad on arrival and them placing blame on me. I would have had also had to send mine in for the core.

Chances are, I would of had to pay more for the core when I sent it in as I had some hard part damage. Choosing someone I can go to in person and speak with them 1-on-1 was better IMO. I paid someone to deal with the headache I would of had. As I know nothing to little about rebuild transmissions. Not only did they redo the transmission, but they check the cooler lines, and the electronics involved with the operation of the transmission. If had gotten an input or flexplate, it would have been nearly $5k for the job, and I was already breaking the bank with $4.5k.

I called my transmission guy today, and he told me that he has only replaced 10 flexplates in the last 5 years. But thats what only comes through his door. He said most of the time they are diesels. The reasoning behind broken flywheels for him is not what you describe. Mainly due to a bad starter or cracks developed from vibrations. Nothing from the transmission is going to cause the flywheel to go out because it is not the cause for broken flywheels. According to him...

He quoted me about $400-500 to do a flexplate job with a stock flexplate. So add that to however much it would cost me for a billet.

In reality, I have to take what I read online with a grain of salt. As most of it can be hearsay. I also have to take the transmission guys info for what its worth as well. I will continue on a stock flywheel until it goes out, if it does go out. Then I will fork the money over for a billet when the time comes. Although, I will heed all advice on how to be easy on the transmission when hauling/towing.

Its understandable, the 2nd gen flexplates are way stronger then the first gen's, but you speaking of wanting to run an exhaust brake implies that you will use the tran to engine brake, and that means (maybe a lock up switch).

My only concern is that i would hate to see you trash a expensive trans over things like this.

When i spoke to DTT i told them exactly what this truck does for a living and told them to build the trans around it, and i asked them to explain things as we went. Among them was that a broken flexplate or input shaft can run you the serious risk of trashing your trans the pump and front drum as well.

this is all my concern is, when we swapped the transmissions in my truck the stock flexplate was out of round, and when you looked at it you could see how the center was startign to twist (like some of the photos in the threads i linked below), and im glad that i got the billet flexplate as im sure it wouldn't have lasted much longer had i left it on my truck.

But then again i towed everything from 5,000lbs to 20,000lbs and some stuff as high as 32-35,000lbs over time so who knows all i know is that a stock dodge auto did the work.

Im just saying i feel it was a big mistake that you swung a billet triple disk and left a stock flexplate and input shaft in there.

Did the builder state what your new speed was, was it 200-300 lower or more like 400? I went with 400 lower and she really locks up and kicks this truck, my speedo gauge runs like the tachometer.

I would like to ask? Has anybody ever trashed a flex plate due to to much load. I mean real seen it not just heard of it. Maybe with a over abundance of power adders and foolish driving. I have personally done some stupid things with my trucks and drag racing for years and never broke a flex plate. Unless your running more than 500 hp, just drive it, enjoy it. The engineers that designed these trucks did take into consideration our ability to do dumb things with them. There is always room for improvement, some things are just overkill. Scare tactics sell parts. Just my 2 cents MEH

(In response to the bold sentence), apparently they did that when they built our 47re's:lol:

Some threads i dug up on the CF To the request on flexplates. (just 2nd gen 24v trucks area)

Here the discussion of billets are mentioned

http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/98-5-02-performance-parts-discussion/239133-full-trans-vb-tc.html

Picture of broken flexplate, and multiple ones, ones out of round etic.

http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/98-5-02-powertrain/234910-affordable-flexplate.html

another broken flexplate

http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/98-5-02-powertrain/17857-how-much-power-without-frying-auto-trans.html

Another thread here

http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/98-5-02-powertrain/26599-flex-plate.html

picture showing the thickness of the stock flexplate

http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/98-5-02-performance-parts-discussion/216168-were-cheap-out-auto-tranny.html

Discussion about stock input shafts braking using aftermarket converters

http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/98-5-02-powertrain/232721-47re-billet-shafts.html

more discussion

http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/98-5-02-powertrain/233322-47re-questions.html

no picts but skant discussion

http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/98-5-02-powertrain/357743-errrrr-help-broken-something-thats-sure.html

stock truck trashes stock flexplate

http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/98-5-02-powertrain/455102-had-truck-4-days-broken-flexplate.html

now i know that there are odds but the general consensus is that if you run a triple disk you should have billet input and a billet flexplate.

but im not arguing over the need to have one, but i just felt that my stock flexplate was going out of round when i dropped my stock trans i feel that it is something of real concern. especially since the OP put a triple disk back in with stock shafts and stuff. these triple disks are very harsh shifters, regardless of how loose or tight they might be.

Now this thread here is a doosy but well worth reading the first 6 or 8 pages i feel. the rest is chatter about how the trans performed etic.

http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/98-5-02-performance-parts-discussion/239260-blew-my-transmission-today.html